Business Marketing Advice for New Businesses

If you are going to make a success of your new business, you have to make marketing a priority. The marketing strategies you employ will determine the success or failure of your business. There is a great deal of competition out there, some that are likely offering products or services similar to yours. In order to attract customers you have to find ways to differentiate yourself from your competitors. Most new small businesses find their success in niche marketing, rather than trying to sell to the widest possible market.

If you haven’t done so already, identify one or more market niches for your products or services. You create a market niche by identifying a segment of the market that needs a product or service that other businesses are not providing and you develop that niche and specialize in it. Once you have an idea for a market niche that would be a good fit for you, test the waters and do some market research. Evaluate possible competitors, potential customers, the level of demand for the products and services you are planning to provide, and your own ability to establish yourself as the vendor of choice. If you choose your niche well, you can dominate that market. Businesses serving a niche market rely heavily on marketing to make connections with exactly the right type of customers.

One of the fundamental aspects of marketing today is to build your business on a basis of strong ethics and a philosophy of integrity. Consumers want to deal with and buy from, ethical businesses. And it is a key factor in building trust and sustainable relationships with potential customers.  As it is essential for your business to stand out from the crowd, before you begin to develop your marketing communication materials, you need to define the unique value that you can bring to your customers. Quality products and excellent customer service should be givens and you don’t want to differentiate your business on the basis of price. Instead you need to focus on a unique way that you can offer value-added services to your customer. Once defined, develop a slogan or business tag line to use in all your customer communications to ensure that customers and prospects are consistently reminded of the value you bring to the table.

Another way to build trust is to give away something valuable for free with no stings attached. When people are surfing the net they are seeking information. Your business website should be loaded with meaningful, memorable content. Free articles, downloadable reports or e-books that address issues of interest to your target audience, will bring them back to your website time and again. All information and freebies should be high quality, well written and updated frequently. It may take a number of visits to your site before a potential customer actually purchases something, however, the more often they come and the longer they stay, the greater the likelihood that you will make a sale. Building trust takes time, but by consistently providing information of value to site visitors, you are positioning yourself as an expert; someone whose products or service can help them solve a problem.

A marketing strategy that differentiates your business, creates value and builds trust with your target markets is the key to building a successful business.